Stamp holder and moistener



(No Model.)

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE LOOMIS, OFPARKERSBURG, VIRGINIA.

SVTMP HOLDER AND MOISTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 519,190, dated May 1, 1894. Application tiled January 3l, 1893 Serial No. 460,344. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE LooMIs, of Parkersburg, in the county of Wood and State of West Virginia, have invented a new and Improved Stamp Holder and Moistener, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. Y

My invention relates to improvements in devices which are adapted to hold and moisten postage stamps, or similar gummed articles; and the object of my invention is to pro' duce a very simple, compact and attractive device in which a great number of postage stamps may be packed, which carries the stamps, so that they are delivered one by oneI and at the same timeconveniently and thoroughly moistened, and also to construct the device so that it may be used to advantage? for moistening gum on envelopes, labels, or `other articles.

To this end my invention consists in certain features ofconstruction and combinationsof parts, whichl will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a partof this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device, showing also the manner in which it is used. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section of the device. Fig. 3 is a perspective view taken from the rear and with the back cover removed; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the inside of the back cover and the slide usedin adjusting the stamp plates.

The device is provided with a suitable base 10 at one end` of which is the stamp box 11 which is firmly secured to the base and which has a detachable back or cover 12, the latter having side anges 13 which are adapted to The box has an inclined top covered by a plate 14, and in this top are finger slots 15 which extend from the rear portion of the top to the front edge of the same. These slots 15 are for the purpose of enabling the stamps to be drawn readily, one by one, from the box, as hereinafter described.

As shown in the drawings, the box is divided bya vertical partition 16 into two compartments, each of which is adapted to hold a pile of stamps, but it will be understood that the box may be made to comprise one compartment only or any number of compartment-s, the capacity of the box being regulated as desired. In each compartment of the box is a plate 17 which is pressed upward by a spring 1S and which is adapted to press the stamps, which are carried in the compartment and upon the plate, upward, so that the upper stamp will always be in contact with the top plate 14. On the under side of each plate 17 is a hook 19 which, when the plate is depressed, may be made to engage an eye 2O in the bottom of the compartment, and when this is done the plate 17 will be held in a depressed position, as shown at the left-hand in Fig. 3. The object of this fastening device is to enable the plates to be held down so that the compartments may be readily lled with stamps `and also to enablethe plates to be held down when the box is filled with stamps and is to be packed away for a time for Vif' the pressure upon the stamps were constant, a

Vportion of the stamps might possiblystick topivoted as shown `at 22,

gether.` A plate 21 is to the inside of the back 12, andjis adapted to swing out beyond one edge ofthe bach, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. The plate 21 serves as a tool withwhich to depress the plates 17, and to do this the plate is swung out, as shown by dotted lines, and its free end used to press down the stalnp plates. The plates 17 are depressed and held down by pushing them downward with the plate 2l, the back 12 being first removed and then tilting the whole device so as to cause the hooks to swing into the eyes 20. When the plates are to be released, the reverse action is necessary, the plates being depressed slightly and the device tilted so as to swing the hooks 19 out of the eyes 20, after which 18 will press the plates upward.

On the base 10 and in front of the box 11 is a moistening cup 24, which extends nearly to the top ot' the box 11, and the upper, back edge of the cup is held inplace by a hook or clasp 25, while at the bottom and front side of the cup is a forwardly extending lug 26 which is fastened to the base 10. In the cup the springs t is a sponge 27 which should be large enough to rise up slightly from the top of the cup so that the stamps, as they are withdrawn from the top of the box, maybe conveniently drawn across the sponge and moistened. -In the front side of the cup is secured a plate 28, the upper edge of which is formed into a lip 29 which extends outward over the edge of the cup and which may be conveniently grasped between the thumb and uger, as shown in Fig. 1, when a stamp is being moistened, so as to enable the stamp to be conveniently drawn across the sponge without wetting the finger, and the plate may also be pushed inward so as to slightly compress the sponge and cause suiicient moisture to be applied to the stamp. At the upper edge and front side of the box 11 and just above the cup 24 is a projecting ledge 30 having an inclined and roughened upper edge, and sufficient space is left between the top of the ledge and the top plate 14 forasingle stamp to pass outward between the two parts. The object of roughening the ledge is to cause it to engage and slightly retain a stamp, so that if by chance two stamps should be started from the box, the lower one would be detained by the ledge, while the upper one would slide freely outward.

When itisdesired to till the box, the stamps are arranged in bunches with the gum side down and are placed upon the plates 17. The tops of the stamps should be placed to ward the back of the-box, so that each stamp may be withdrawn in a correct position for applying it tov a letter. If desired, a piece of paper may be placed between each bunch of ten stamps, properly numbered so that one may always know how many are remaining. When'filled to as near the top as convenient, unhook the plates 17 and the springs push the stamps up ready for use. To get a stamp it is only necessary to placethe forenger in one of the slots 15, the thumb beneath the lip 29, and then draw the stamp over the top of the sponge 27 which is contained in the cup 24E.

It will be seen that labels, envelopes, or

other similar things having gummed surfaces, may be conveniently moistened upon the sponge without interfering with the stamps.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A stamp holder and moistener, comprising a box having a slotted top and provided on its front side with a projecting ledge having an inclined and roughened upper edge, a spring pressed plate held in the box, and a ,moistening device at the front side of the box,

substantially as described.

2. A stamp holder and moistener, comprising a box having an inclined and slotted top and a detachable back, an upwardly pressed plate arranged within the box and adapted to carry a stamp, a fastening device to hold the plate in a depressed position, a delivery slot arranged in the front upper portion of the box, and a moistening device held in front of the box, substanially as described.

3. The combination with the stamp holding box having a delivery slot at its upper end, of a moistening cup secured in frontot` the box, the sponge held with the cup, and the plate arranged Within the cup and having a lip extending over the front edge of the cup, substantially as described.

i 4. A stamp holder and moistener, comprising a box having a pluralityof vertical compartments therein, and a slotted top,upward 1y spring-pressed plates arranged in each compartment and adapted to carry stamps, fastening devices to hold the plates downward in the compartments, a delivery slot arranged along the front'upper portion of the box, a moistening cup held in front of the box, and a moistening sponge arranged within the cup, substantially as described. t

GEORGE LOOMIS.

Witnesses:

DAVID I-I. LEONARD, HARRY J. COOK. 

